Please be weaponless...

A/N: Comment ideas and opinions and reactions alike! Let me know if you want a chapter of this chapter in Finnick's POV ;)

Day 20 pt 2: Freezing Pain

In an effort to move lower in elevation so as to avoid the coldest part of the arena, I packed up all of my things to move as the snowfall picked up. The water on the ground moves too much to freeze but the cold is definitely stinging through my thick boots and three layers of socks.

I trek lower and lower, walking along with the flow of the water on the ground as the water level rises mid-thigh. As I walk further along, the weather gets slightly warmer, I immediately realize that the cold is an incentive for the three remaining tributes to come together once and for all. Surely, the victor of the 72nd Hunger Games would be found out in less than 3 days.

Something flickers out of the corner of my eyes, something shimmering, but I ignore it and manage to make my way down a slight decline without slipping.

"Where do you think you're going?" a male voice calls out. "Huh, District Four?"

I slowly turn around to face Onyx Jacquard. His parka was obviously stolen from someone else, maybe even Dimity Lampas, as it's bloody and far too small for him. "Please be weaponless." I whisper to myself when I see his menacing smile.

He is, but that doesn't stop his hands from lunging toward my throat, I try to block him with my trident but the end of my trident hits something and a slight electric current stuns me for a second, allowing for his dirty, bloody hands to grab my neck.

"No, no!" I scream, dropping my trident in surprise. I move my hands up shakily to my his fingers on my neck and try to pry them off, hoping to at least break one so he will let go. I gasp wildly for breath as his smirk deepens with a deadly expression.

"I knew there was something more to you. I just had this feeling you would lose your humanity and be a force to be reckoned with." he says, gritting his teeth and lifting me in the air by my throat.

I whimper with pain and let out a strangled moan of terror and sadness, my head reeling from lack of oxygen. The only tangible images I can see are Onyx's dirty, smug face and somewhere off in the distance behind my eyes, Finnick's solemn gaze. I scream again, my throat rough and scratchy, sounding like a tortured animal.

"Screaming can't get you anywhere. Screaming won't get you back to District Four." Onyx says menacingly. "You will never be Verina, Victor of the Hunger Games. You won't mentor alongside the Capitol's golden boy."

I see it again this time. The shimmering. Purple, yellow and green flares dance around, forming a wall of invisible color. There is a strange place between the shimmering and the water, probably so as not to electrify it - a force field. I gasp for air, letting out another strangled cry and wriggle, trying to knock Onyx off of his balance.

"You can't escape, stupid girl." Onyx roars. "You're done."

"Mmmngh. No!" I manage to yell, pushing my weight forward causing Onyx to stumble backwards.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" He roars, tightening his grip on my neck. "I own you, you're done."

I wriggle again and this time he slips backward. His head collides with something hard - the shimmering and my nose is met with the scent of something burning. When his head hits, his grip tightens on my neck and then he lets go completely, rigid as a board. A cannon goes off as the both of us fall toward the water and Onyx's golden eyes are completely lifeless.

One more kill.

Then my number will be 12.

My number is now 11.

I can go home to Finnick.

I will go home to Finnick.